A Christmas Secret
by Erailea Evenstar
Summary: Kinomi is off in the park thinking of the one she love on Christmas Day. But due to her personality she has never admitted to anyone she is indeed in love with the wind master. Could this glorious day bring those words out? Could Jin feel the same way?
1. Chapter 1

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

It's almost Christmas and I'm here with another tale for the holiday :) If you like stories Christmassy stories the one I wrote last year might just interest you as it did all the others that read it, it's called _The Ultimate Christmas Gift_

Last year the Christmas fic was for Touya and this year it's for Jin. Except this year I got the idea to write this from a friend, Kinomi :) I promised you a nice long story, but due to time restraints I cannot sit and do that so I hope this nice holiday fic makes up for at least part of what I could not do.

So yes, this tale is dedicated to you Kinomi!

This story is five chapters long and pretty realistic. Sometimes when the ones you care for cannot be with you memories float through your mind, so that is what happens much through this fic, but not through the entire thing (after all, what kind of holiday fic would if be if they didn't meet up?). Thought I'd share that this way I'd evade getting any readers confused.

How else is it realistic? You'll just have to find out yourself, or perhaps I'll share a few things with you as the other chapters are put up, as I wouldn't want to spoil anything :D

* * *

**Chapter 1**

A young looking girl with long light pink hair, nearly as long as her, and sea green eyes walked through a snow park. She wore white pants that had green at her waist and at the bottom where it clung to her ankles, white slipper like shoes (which also had green around the top of it) and a white winter jackets. Her hair was in a low ponytail and was split into sections by three green hair bands; the last one was at her waist.

It was a beautiful afternoon, four o'clock to be precise, and small snowflakes fell to the ground in their delicate and wondrous dance. To make the day even more special it was Christmas.

The pink hair girl put her hands in her jacket pocket in an attempt to keep them warm. She sighed, her breath turning white in the cold air. "Well Kinomi, you can't say you didn't enjoy today," she said to herself softly.

The day had been full of jovial spirits, all but one however. She had been looking forward to seeing the wind master of the Shinobi, but a turn of events had not allowed either of the two members she was friendly with to be able to come.

'Something's come up in the Makai,' she remembered Botan telling her when she had asked about the wind and ice masters in the morning.

'What do you mean?' Kinomi had asked in response, her smile falling from her face.

'There was an attack on a small ice village near Touya's old home,' Botan had told her sadly, 'The two of them were worried and went to check things out.'

'Oh,' Kinomi had said sadly, 'I hope everything is alright.'

"I hope everything is alright," she said aloud to herself. She was worried for those Touya cared about, as they were small in number, but she could not help but feel slightly depressed that they, particularly Jin, had not been able to come for even a few minutes to celebrate the glorious day.

She did, however, understand that the two masters had a great responsibility and could not hold that against them. Now that Jin and Touya were the only masters left in the group the responsibility was even greater on them than in the past since demons thought they could get away with a bit more than before. Yusuke and the other Spirit Detectives, including herself, often stepped in and helped them; be it directly or indirectly. Unfortunately not all demons learned from the mistakes of others and simply repeated what one demon had fallen trying to do.

Kinomi bit her bottom lip as she thought about what the two masters could be doing in the Makai. A panicked look crossed her face as she thought they might be in trouble, but she mentally smacked her self, 'They're more capable of protecting themselves than you are,' she reminded herself.

It was a well known fact that Kinomi was great fighter, but her defense tended to lack when she was being attacked in rapid dead on motions and she tended needed a bit of time in order to defend herself against powerful attacks.

She calmed herself down relatively quickly, "They're probably fine, but figure it's too late to come back now," she told herself aloud. "Ya, that's probably it."

A small smile graced her face as she saw a small snowman, obviously built by a child, not far ahead of her. It had two different size rocks for eyes, several small pebbles for a mouth, a small twig for a nose, two sticks for arms, small stones for buttons and a red fuzzy scarf was wrapped around it's 'neck.'

As she walked up to it the memories of her first snowman came to her mind and she could not suppress a giggle. She took out her white hat with stitched black snow flakes on it and put it on the small snowman's head. "May you stay warm," she giggle to herself once more, "Or rather, may you stay cold so as not to melt."

Memories of what she had done with the hat in the past, last year to be precise, came to her mind and she could not help but smile.

vvvvv

"Oi!" a teenage looking boy with wild red hair and brilliant blue eyes cried, "My ears are cold!" The boy has long pointed elf like ears, a small fang hanging downward on his left, and a small white horn half way between his forehead and the crest of his head. He wore white pants that came down to a bit above his ankles, tan colored tape that ran from the end of his pant legs to his ankles, black ninja like footwear that allowed parts of his foot to be shown, two straps that crisscrossed over his chest and back, a blue belt with a red stone in the middle and, for one of the few time, he wasn't wearing his arm gear.

Kinomi laughed at her friend as they continued to walk in the forest near Genkai's temple, "I'm surprised that's the only thing that's cold. Look at your attire!"

"Why you be makin' fun of me Kinomi?" Jin asked, "Jus' 'cause I'm not like Touya and be having no feeling of the cold don' make in right to be pokin' fun of me."

The pink hair girl could not help but smile at the wind master's, relatively thick, Gaelic accent. She could understand him most of the time, but there where those times when she was left with a confused look on her face, luckily this was not one of those times. "I don't mean any offense Jin. It's just that it's the middle of winter, snow is on the ground and you're out here like that."

"I be knowin' that," Jin said as he put his hands around his ears in an attempt to keep them warm. "But it usually don' be botherin' me."

Kinomi smiled and patted him on the arm; being around seven inches shorter than him his arm was a place she could easily touch without stretching. "Welcome to the Ningenkai in winter my friend."

Jin pouted down at her as he walked. Kinomi smiled widened as she saw how ridiculous he looked with a pout on his face, ears covered by his hands and walking all the while. "What be makin' you smile so big?"

"You," she said happily, "You look funny right now."

Jin's pout increased as he put his arms down, "Why you be makin' so much fun of me Kinomi? 'ou're so mean to me today." Kinomi giggled softly before grabbing his hand and stopping herself so that a small tug would go on his arm telling him she was no longer moving.

"What be the matter?" Jin asked with his head to the side when he turned to face her.

"Look me in the face and say I'm mean," she said with a smile.

Slightly confused the wind master bent over so he was face level with her, "'ou're me-" He stopped mid word as something soft, yet warm went over his head, covering both his eyes and half of his ears. He stood up and took whatever it was off, "Eh?"

"It's called a hat silly," Kinomi told him with a laugh, "It'll keep your head and ears warm."

"And not be allowin' me to see," Jin pointed out as he looked at the black stitched snowflakes on the soft white material.

"Not if you position it right," Kinomi said with a smile. "Here, I'll do it."

This time Jin stooped down to her level and she quickly positioned the hat so that it covered his ears but not his eyes by tilting it backwards (it was one of those hats that were loose when you wore it had had a brim all around it). "There," Kinomi told him, "Now am I mean?"

Jin stood up and made and face as if he was thinking, but the small smile on his lips gave him away. "Na," he told her as he gave her a big hug, laughing all the while.

Color found its way to Kinomi's cheeks as she hugged him back, "Good."

* * *

So there's the first holiday filled chapter :) Hope you liked it.

Please review everyone and tell me what you think thus far!


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Thanks for reviewing _witchseeker_ and _Jins-Irish-Grin_ (aka Kinomi :D )!

I tend to like having character development, particularly for characters that aren't known from anime's and what not. I find that it helps people grow more attached to characters and it helps them understand them better. A story isn't very good if you can't relate to or understand a main character.

Yey! I made Kinomi act properly! I was a little worried I had gone off from her personality, particularly with this chapter… but it make sense after you read the segment after the flash back. If she would have really done that or not I don't know --;; But I was trying to keep to what information you had given me. And I inspired you too? Neato! :) And thank you :D

* * *

Chapter 2 

With a final smile Kinomi left the snowman and her hat behind. "Perhaps today isn't so bad," she said to herself. She was right to some extent. Even though she wanted to see Jin in person, memories of times with him would hold her out until she did eventually meet up with him.

vvvvv

"Kinomi," and old woman with shoulder length light pink hair and brown eyes known as Genkai called down the all to her adopted grandchild. She wore a red tunic that had small bits of green and purple with white pants and long sleeve shirt underneath it.

"Yes grandmother?" Kinomi called back.

"Why don't you come out and say hello to our guests," she called with a smirk.

Kinomi walked out of her room and down the hall with a puzzled look, "I didn't know we were having company."

"Sometimes you cannot expect this particular group," Genkai told her.

Her puzzled look intensified until she looked out the back door and saw a blue haired boy her height standing with his back to her, arms crossed. Kinomi smiled in delight and ran outside, tackling the unsuspecting ice master to the ground.

"Hey Touya!" She cried happily while still atop of him on the ground.

Touya groan, "Hello to you too Kinomi, now would you get off."

Kinomi got up and helped Touya back to his feet, "How are you?"

"I was fine until you tackled me," he said as he rubbed his left arm a bit, "Nearly broke my arm the way I landed." Now that his front was seen Kinomi could see the ice master's green spike like bangs on his left and light blue eyes. He was wearing a dark blue shirt, black fishnet underneath it, a purple belt, light blue pants and black slipper like shoes.

"Sorry!" Kinomi said with an apologetic bow.

Touya gave one of his rare smirks and quickly put the pink haired girl in a head lock, "Did you serious believe that Kinomi?"

"Ack!" Kinomi cried as she tried to get free, "You liar!"

"I simply twisted the truth since you did hurt my arm," Touya said before letting her go and when she stood up strait he pushed her backwards.

Kinomi let out a cry of surprise as she was pushed, but found she was not pushed far as she hit into something relatively quickly. At first she thought it was one of the temples pillars and was about to get angry with the ice master, who seemed oddly out of character today, when she felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders and a chin rest on the top of her head. Knowing that the temple pillars didn't have arms or anything around the likes she was left confused for a moment.

"How are ya Kinomi?" the Gaelic accented voice of the wind master came to her ears.

Her cheeks turned slightly red as she suddenly realized who it was, "I'm al-alright. You?"

"Tired," Jin replied, and as if to prove his point he yawned loudly. "'aven't slept for over a day."

"But your still awake enough to tell me to shove her back to you," Touya pointed out.

"Ah, come on Touya. Tha' don' be takin' much thought," Jin replied.

Kinomi crossed her arms, Jin's still around her shoulders, "So this whole thing was set up."

"I wasn't planning on getting tackled," Touya told her, "So no. Jin's idea was spur of the moment."

With a nod Kinomi asked, "Where were you when I came out Jin?"

Jin laughed jovially, "Lookin' at the scenery ol' Genkai's got 'ere."

"I should have guessed," Kinomi said with a smile.

"Hmm," Jin said sleepily, "Can I be sleepin' like this?" His arms tightened slightly around Kinomi's shoulders.

Kinomi blushed harder than before, "Yes- I mean no."

"Aw, why not?" Jin asked in his half awake state.

"Because when you fall asleep you'll knock me over," Kinomi said softly.

Jin made a pouting noise. Touya shook his head and grabbed the back of Jin's 'shirt' as he walked by. Jin let go of Kinomi so he wouldn't accidentally choke her. "You have a room here Jin, use it, not Kinomi."

"Ah, common Touya," Jin complained, "What do ya care?"

"It'll save her from your snoring," Touya replied.

"Snorin'? I don' snore Touya," Jin waved his arms like a child as he was dragged down the hallway by the smaller demon.

Kinomi bit her thumb nail softly as her blush remained on her cheeks and a small smile played on her lips. She and Touya both knew that Jin didn't snore, but what better excuse to use since Jin can't obviously hear himself when he sleeps.

vvvvv

Kinomi smiled to herself as she remembered that. That event had occurred after several months of not seeing either of them and it had overjoyed her to see them, particularly the red head, once again. She could never be upset about seeing Touya because that always meant that the perky wind master was not too far away as they always traveled together, like the many centuries before hand.

As she thought about Touya white lie to Jin she could not help but think about the one time she had heard Jin snoring. He had been sick, his sinuses were congested and seemed utterly miserable…

vvvvv

Jin sneezed into a tissue for what seemed like the thousandth time. "Bless you," Kinomi said for what seemed like the thousandth time.

"Oi," Jin complained, "I can' be breathin' an' my throat is sore."

Kinomi handed him a clean tissue, "That's what you get for going to the ice realm without proper clothing."

"I've never gotten sick from it before," Jin whined.

"There's a first time for everything." Kinomi said, "I'll be right back."

As she left the wind master's bed room he threw his dirt tissues into the almost full garbage pail. Some of the tissues were covered in blood from when he sneezed so hard he gave himself a bloody nose, which had lasted for several minutes.

His nose was red from all the sneezing and blowing into tissues he had done and even his ears were red and slightly drooped to show that he was ill. He wore a white long sleeve shirt instead of his normal top, due to his system being wacky and telling him he was freezing even though he was sweating.

He pulled the warm comforter up to his chin as he leaned against the bed post. He was horribly miserable since he could not run around in his normal jovial manner or even fly for that matter. His system was so run down that it hard to get himself out of bed, let alone walk about.

Kinomi took that moment to walk in with a tray in her hands, "I'm back with warm soup and tea."

Jin smiled wearily at her, "'anks."

"Welcome," she replied with a big smile. As she set the tray down on the bed side table Jin gave a horrible sounding cough before groaning in pain. Kinomi sighed as she stirred the soup to cool it down, she knew his throat was raw from constantly coughing and felt bad for him. It was annoying enough to be congested and constantly sneezing, but adding a very sore throat to that only made things more aggravating.

She handed him the tea with her free hand when she was sure he wasn't going to sneeze or cough at any moment. "Drink this, but be careful, it might be a little hot for your sore throat."

Jin nodded and carefully took the cup before taking a small sip. Finding that it didn't bother his throat he took a bigger sip, but not too much of one.

Touya came to the doorway at that moment, "How are you feeling?" One look at the wind master's drooping ear's answered his question before he even got a response.

"Miserable," Jin whined as he shifted slightly.

"Next time listen to me and get something warmer," Touya told him before leaving, all the while shaking his head.

Jin groaned and Kinomi just shook her head with a small smile, "You really should listen to him when going to the ice realm."

"Don' be rubbin' it in," Jin said into his cup before taking another sip.

Kinomi smiled softly as she sat in chair she had put by the bed earlier, the soup in her lap. "Put the tea down."

Jin looked at her curiously, tea still in his hands, "I can be feedin' myself."

"With you constantly sneezing and coughing it'll end up more in your lap than your stomach," she informed him as she held out a spoon full of warm soup for him.

With a sigh he closed his mouth around the spoon. When Kinomi gently pulled it out he put the cup of tea on the bed side table. After several more spoonfuls his dropped ears twitched slightly.

"Something the matter?" Kinomi asked, afraid she had done something.

Jin shook his head slowly so as to not give himself a headache or annoy his already upset system. "Na, but I could be gettin' used to this," he gave a big smile.

Kinomi laughed softly, "I guess you're getting better if you can smile like your normal jovial self."

"I be supposin' so," Jin said quietly.

After Jin was done eating she put everything back on the tray, "You should get some rest."

Jin nodded and shifted so he could lie down. Kinomi pulled the cover up to his chin for him and giggled slightly as he shifted about like a child trying to find their comfortable spot in bed. He ended up on his side so that he was facing her, his eyes were half closed as weariness started to claim him.

"Sleep well Jin," she told him as she picked up the tray and started to walk out.

She could have sworn she heard a light, "Thank you Kino-sama," before she left, but it could have been her imagination since Jin had never called her by a nickname before.

When she was walking by his room an hour later she saw Touya leaning against the door frame shaking his head, an amused look on his face. "What's so funny Touya?"

He pointed into the bedroom, but said nothing. When she looked in she could not help but laugh. Jin was hugging his pillow to his chest, sheets entangled around his waist and, on top of it all, he was snoring. How she had not heard it as she walked down the hall she didn't know.

"First time since I've know him that I've heard him snore," Touya said, still amused by the spectacle. After all, Jin and Touya had known each other for centuries.

"Well what do you expect?" Kinomi asked him, "His sinuses are clogged."

"So I can hear," Touya said as he stood up strait.

A thought came to Kinomi's mind, "We can use this as black mail."

Touya looked at her, eyebrow raised, "Where did that come from? I would have never expected that to come from you."

Kinomi blushed and bowed her head. Touya merely shook his head and said, "You're hopeless Kinomi."

vvvvv

To this day she hadn't figure out what Touya had meant by that. She shrugged the thought away as she continued walking, knowing that she probably wouldn't figure it out anyway.

* * *

Yes, what indeed did Touya mean by that…? 

Jin was miserable, poor thing. Lol. I was sick when I wrote this so I kind of spread the love 0-:) It was a cool idea I thought and kind of cute too :)

I hope you liked it! And please review!

Happy Holidays.


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho

Thank you for reviewing _Jins-Irish-Grin_. Thanks for the complement once again :) I'm really glad you like it thus far :)

* * *

**Chapter 3**

Kinomi continued her trek through the park. The snow was coming down at the same rate it had been all day, which was slow and beautiful. The flakes were starting to stick in her hair now instead of melting into it like they had before, but she did not seem to mind.

As a bird flew past her she smiled and remembered her first flight, which had been shortly after she had first 'met' Jin and when she had realized she indeed had feeling directed towards him.

vvvv

Kinomi walked around the woods on Hanging Neck Island where the Dark Tournament was currently taking place. She was bored since Yusuke wasn't fighting (she had gone to watch him after all).

The day before she had seen the amazing fighting between the team Urameshi and team Masho, also know as the Shinobi. She had to admit that two out of the five fights were dishonorable, but the other three showed honor in such a way she had always thought warriors of their class would have. She hated Bakken and Risho, two of the Shinobi masters who had been thoroughly dishonorable, and hoped they would rot in hell when they inevitably got there.

As she came towards one of the many shores, as it was an island, she saw a red headed teenage looking demon laying on a bolder. One of his knees was in the air, his hands behind his head and the sun was shinning down on him, yet a slight air of depression swarmed around him.

The red head hadn't seemed to notice her presence, or if he had he made no movements to show it. As she walked over to him with curiosity she realized it was the same demon Yusuke had fought in a match the day before. He was Jin, the wind master of the Shinobi.

He had bandages on several spots of his body, no doubt to cover the wounds induced by Yusuke himself. She had to admit he did look cute laying there in the sun light.

As he put his leg down and brought his hands to his face she ducked behind the bolder hoping he hadn't sensed her. Unfortunately it wasn't a moment later that Jin was leaning over the side she had ducked behind, a confused look on his face.

Kinomi gulped, "Um... Sorry. I wasn't spying on you or anything."

Jin nodded slowly before a big smile came upon his face, "Say, 'ou're one of Urameshi's friends aren't ya?"

Kinomi nodded her head, "How'd you know?"

"I remember ya sittin' in the stands with his girlfriend an' I think I've seen ya around the island with Urameshi before," he told her, but the last bit seemed more to himself than her. "But anyway, what'cha doing out 'ere?"

"Wandering," Kinomi said as she continued to look up at him from her sitting place. "What are you doing out here?"

"Thinkin'," he replied.

"About what? If you don't mind me asking." Kinomi asked as she rubbed her neck, feeling a slight pain from looking up at the odd angle.

Jin laughed, "Why don' ya come up 'ere so you don' give yerself a crick in the neck."

Kinomi nodded and slowly climbed up on the rock, not quite sure of the wind masters intentions. As he gave her another big smile she could not help but smile back and giggle softly as one of his bandages curved with his smile. "What be 'our name?" he asked her.

"Kinomi," she told him, her smile still present, "And yours is Jin, no?" The wind master nodded with a smile before looking out to the horizon.

Silence fell between them as they gazed off into the distance. Several minutes passed before it was broken and Jin was the culprit, "We 'anted this island so badly."

Kinomi looked back to him, a sad look on her face. She now recalled the ice master, Touya if she remembered correctly, speaking about that to Kurama before their match.

Jin, however, had not noticed the change on her face, "We 'anted to be in the light, have some of it for our selves." He sighed, "We 'ave been in the dark so long and we 'elped other be keepin' their light, so we thought it was only bein' fair. I guess we were askin' too much."

At first Kinomi didn't know what to say, but she soon put her words together, "The light this island would have offered would have been a false reassurance."

Jin turned his attention to her, but found that she was now looking back out at the horizon, "What'cha be meaning?"

"I mean that this island had been tainted and changed by the Dark Tournament. The light here only shades the blood, chaos and death that has occurred. True happiness cannot be found on an island such as this."

"I suppose you bein' right," Jin said after a moment's though, "But it still 'ould 'ave been a nice change."

"I don't doubt it," Kinomi said, "But for how long would you have been happy on this island?" She turned her head to him.

As their gaze locked Jin understood that she wasn't trying to down cast what he and his teammates had tried to do, she was only trying to cheer him up and make him see that all hope was not yet lost.

He stood up and looked up into the air, "You wanna be seenin' why I liked this island so much?"

Kinomi looked up at him and smiled, "Sure."

Jin extended his hands and helped her to her feet before wrapping his arms around her waist. Not a second later were the two of them soaring up through the air. Kinomi was slightly frightened and wrapped her arms around Jin to reassure herself that she was going to be alright.

Within moments the two of them stopped moving and she heard the wind master laugh jovially, "You bein' afraid of flyin' jus' like Touya."

"I'm more or less afraid of what will happen now that we're up here," she said softly, her voice wavering slightly. "You and Touya at least know each other."

"Eh?" Jin questioned. Then realization struck, "I never be lettin' ya fall! So don' worry!" Kinomi nodded and turned her head to look about. Jin chuckled, "Ya be seein' better like this," he carefully sifted her so her back was to his chest, his arms still supporting her around her waist.

Kinomi had blanched when Jin had turned her about, but once she was stationary again she felt unusually safe. As she looked about she was amazed at the beautiful view of the island. "I can see why you wanted it," she said a moment later, "On top of all the death and blood here it is beautiful."

"It is," Jin agreed and he took a deep breath, "An' the air be fresh and free out here, unlike most of the Makai."

"What's it like to fly around all the time," Kinomi asked after a while.

Jin's ears twitched, but Kinomi couldn't see it. "It be loads of fun," he told her with a laugh, "Wanna see?"

"I think I'd be too afraid," Kinomi admitted.

"Na, I don' think ya will be," Jin told her. He tightened his grip reassuringly and slowly, as to not frighten her right off the bat, went through the air.

Kinomi brought her arm up to her chest in slight fright as she saw the ground go by her. She had to admit to herself though that it wasn't as bad as she had originally thought.

"See, you be doin' fine," Jin said happily. "Now put your arms out."

Nervously Kinomi obeyed and she smiled as she felt the air run past her fingertips playfully. She could not help but laugh, which seemed to over joy the perky wind master. "This is so much fun," Kinomi said happily.

Jin laughed and sped up slightly, but not a whole lot as he didn't want to frighten her out of her jovial state. The two of them laughed happily as the air rushed by them in its friendly manner.

Eventually the two found their way to the ground, laughter dying down. "That was a lot of fun," Kinomi said with a smile, "Thank you."

"Welcome," Jin said happily, ears twitching, "Glad ya liked it." He became playful as an idea came to mind and he picked up Kinomi's long hair using the wind. "Your 'air is so long and nice like," he told her as he wrapped it around her neck like a scarf, still using the wind.

Kinomi blushed, "Thank you."

He became slightly curious (at her hair not her blush, which he was oblivious to) and uncoiled her hair before using the wind to slip off the clips holding it into its ponytail. Being freed from it's clasps her hair hung slightly lower than it had a moment ago, but not too much as it had been in a loose pony tail, and shifted ever so slightly in the breeze.

Using the wind once more he placed some of her hair over her shoulders and smiled, "I be likin' it like tha'."

Kinomi's blush deepened slightly. 'Does he really mean that?' she asked herself as she looked down.

Jin walked up to her and picked her chin up, "'ou're a very nice lass, ya know tha'?" Kinomi smiled up at him and he returned the smile, "Hopefully I'll be seeing ya again."

With a nod Kinomi softly replied with, "As do I."

Her blushed deepened even further when the wind master wrapped his strong arms around her in a hug, "You be takin' care of 'our self. There be lots of mean creature out there tha' would 'ant to 'urt someone as nice as ya."

Kinomi returned the hug after her initial shock faded, "I will and you take care of yourself too Jin."

'I'll miss him,' Kinomi thought, not really sure where that had come from. What she didn't know at that point in time was that their paths would cross many times in the near future.

vvvv

Kinomi blushed as the memory. The event had only occurred two years ago, but seemed much further away since she knew him so well. She was glad that the fates had let them meet so many times and was also glad that they had become the best of friends.

'And my love interest,' her mind told her, causing her to blush even harder. She had indeed fallen for the wind master, but was too afraid to admit it to him, or anyone for that matter. Genkai and Kurama (a good friend) had figured it out on their own, she thought Touya might know, but wasn't too sure, and her other friends were either oblivious or where suspicious in some way (they thought she liked someone, but weren't sure who).

She didn't think she'd be able to work up the courage to tell the wind master her secret, which left her slightly depressed, but she knew that it was her own fault and no one else's. 'Oh well,' she thought with a sigh, 'Maybe some miracle will put us together.'

A crack made her stop short and look around. When she heard it again she realized it was underneath her. Carefully she brushed away the layering of snow under her with her feet and quickly blanched.

She had somehow wandered right into the middle of the lake without noticing and unfortunately for her it proved to not have a very thick layer of ice over it.

'Oh the messes I get myself into!' her mind screamed as the ice gave way underneath her.

* * *

One word: cliffhanger

Yes, what messes you do get yourself into. How's she going to get out of this mess? And will she ever tell Jin how she feels?

Please review.


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Thanks again for reviewing _Jins-Irish-Grin_. Lol. Glad to hear I did her personality almost completely correct. Ya, I'll admit I thought that some of the things I made her do weren't on target for her personality, but I wasn't sure how to change it. The whole arms up to chest thing I knew was odd, but if you think about it what other action could she have done other than a facial expression to show she was scared when Jin's arms were around her waist and they were flying? Lol. Oh well. (and don't kill me for the beginning of this chapter. Lol. I told ya I was trying to make this kind of realistic and this was how I figured someone would react to what had just happened)

On with the tale

* * *

Chapter 4 

Kinomi squeezed her eyes shut as she felt the ice give way underneath her and anticipated to be unnerving cold of the water. Instead this very thought was contradicted as she felt unusually warm.

'You idiot!' she mentally screamed at herself for being stupid enough to wander out onto the lake and not notice. 'You got yourself killed!' This was the only reasonable explanation she could think at the moment of why she was warm.

'Now you'll never know if Jin likes you!' her mind screamed.

She felt something tighten around her. 'Must be death finally claiming my soul. Thanks Botan, thanks a bunch,' the last part was dripping with sarcasm in her mind.

"The water must have been really cold," she said aloud.

"'ouldn't know," an accented voice said, "Didn' touch it."

'I know that voice!' Kinomi's mind shouted. Her eyes snapped open and she looked over her shoulder to see a wearily smiling wind master. "Jin!" she cried with glee.

Jin's smile grew to the point were it looked kind of goofy to her, but she didn't care. Her feet were place on solid ground not a moment later, which is when she realized she'd been hovering over it.

She warped her arms around him and yelled, "I'm alive!"

"Of course ya are," Jin said slightly puzzled, "What did you think ya were?"

"I thought I fell in the lake and, and…" she buried her face into his chest and the wind master realized what she had been leading to.

He wrapped his arms around her protectively. "It's alrigh' Kinomi," he told her reassuringly, "Didn't I tell ya I'd never be lettin' ya fall?"

A quick flash of her first flight ran through her mind before she nodded. "You did," she murmured, "You did."

"'en don' be scared," he said lightly to her, all playfulness gone from his voice, leaving only tenderness and care. "Because I'll never let ya fall. Never ever."

Kinomi pulled away enough to look up into his face, "Promise?" A single tear found its way down her cheek.

Jin gave a small smile and nodded, "I promise." He swept away the stray tear with his thumb. "You needn' be worrin' anymore."

She smiled and hugged him tightly, resting her cheek on his chest. He wrapped his strong arms around her tightly, but not enough to harm her in any way, and rested his chin gently on top of her head.

After several moments Kinomi spoke, "You're warm Jin, you know that."

The wind master smiled and rubbed her back gently, removing stray snowflakes, "I ran 'ere from ol' Genkai's place."

"How did you know I was here?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Urameshi an' Kurama tol' me," he explained.

"They're still there?" Kinomi asked, "I thought they'd have gone back home to their families by now."

Jin chuckled, "Ya should know them better 'an me Kinomi. They be havin' a merry old time knockin' each other up."

Kinomi smiled, "You mean their sparring."

"'at's what I said," Jin said with a smile.

"What a day for them to be sparring," Kinomi said softly.

"An' what a day for ya to be wandering off on 'our own," Jin pointed out.

Kinomi gave a small smile, he was right after all. "I just wanted to think without the racket going on at my grandmother's place."

Jin chuckled again, "Understood." He kissed the top of her snowy head before slowly pulling away from her, "'et's be getting' back."

Kinomi, with her cheeks red, nodded. Silence fell between them as they made their trek through the park in the direction of Genkai's temple. Neither knew what to say to the other, but they took comfort in each other's company.

After what seemed to be an eternity Kinomi felt she had to break the silence in some way. "Jin…"

"Hmm?"

"Thanks for everything you've ever done for me."

Jin smiled down at her as they continued to walk, "Same to ya Kinomi."

Kinomi was slightly surprised by this, but quickly smiled.

As they passed by the snowman Kinomi had seen earlier she noticed another one, slightly smaller, built next to it. "That wasn't there before," she said aloud.

"Eh?" Jin questioned, not sure of what she was talking about.

"The snowman without the hat," she said as she pointed it out.

As he looked at the two snowmen and question came to mind, "Is 'at 'our hat?"

Before Kinomi could answer she was hit in the back of the head by something soft, causing her to yelp in surprise. A cry of, "Bull's-eye," alerted her to the culprit of whatever had been thrown at her.

As they both turned around Jin got hit in the shoulder by the same kind of object, which was revealed to be a snowball. "Yusuke! Kuwabara!" Kinomi yelled.

A teenage boy with sleeked back black hair and brown eyes stood there grinning. He wore his green school uniform, which wasn't even the right color for his school. Next to him was a taller teenage boy with curly orange hair and brown eyes. He wore his light blue school uniform, which again wasn't the right color, but it was closer that Yusuke's.

"You guys are so mean!" Kinomi cried, but her laughter canceled out any anger she might have felt.

Jin was the next to yelp as another snowball hit him, but this time in the back of the head. When he turned around he found a smirking ice master, "Merry Christmas Jin."

Jin made a face and with a flick of his hand the tree branch above Touya waved in the wind and let its contents fall. Touya made a surprised noise as the snow fell on top of him before yelling, "Cheater," and throwing another snowball at the wind master, hitting him in the chest.

With a playful growl Jin took off running after the ice master, who darted away from him. For a demon shorter than Jin he could certainly keep a fair amount of distance between them with little problem.

Kinomi laughed until she was hit in the leg by a snowball thrown, once again, by Yusuke. He stood there laughing until he was hit by a snowball in the shoulder, but it wasn't thrown by Kinomi. As the three of them looked to the culprit they found a teenage boy with mid back in length red hair and green eyes. He wore a green tunic with white pants and long sleeve shirt under it.

"Kurama!" Yusuke yelled, "You're supposed to hit her! Not me!"

"Oops," Kurama with a smiled, clearly not meaning it.

"You traitor!" Yusuke yelled and threw a snowball at the kitsune (fox demon) in disguise. Kurama ducked to evade it, laughing all the while.

Yusuke took a quick step to the side to evade getting hit by a snowball thrown by Hiei, a male teenage looking fire demon with black hair that defied gravity, white outlined bangs and red eyes. He wore black pants and black cloak like shirt.

"Ha! You missed Hiei!" Yusuke yelled.

"No," Hiei said with a smirk, "I hit my target."

Yusuke turned around and Kuwabara whipping snow off his face and broke out laughing. When he heard Kinomi call his name he looked towards her and got pegged in the face by a snowball as well.

"Ha!" Kinomi yelled triumph, "Bulls-eye!" she cried, mimicking what Yusuke had said when he had hit her for the first time.

Yusuke shook his head back and forth to get the snow off. "Nice hit there Kinomi," he called out to her, laughing.

"'et back here Touya," Jin called to the fleeing ice master.

"Not a chance," Touya said over his shoulder. Thinking up a quick plan he slowed his pace just enough to allow Jin get close enough so that he could tackled him if he wished it, but that wasn't the plan however.

Jin didn't catch onto this as Touya ran at his slowed pace towards Kinomi. The pink hair girl seemed startled, but was even more so when Touya flipped right over her. Now the ice masters plan was set.

Due to the wind master following so closely behind the ice master he could not stop quick enough to prevent himself from knocking right into Kinomi. He did however make an odd maneuver to prevent himself from falling on top of her by grabbing her around the waist and twisting on his feet so that he would hit the ground and not her.

The force of the fall and how they were positioned on one another, however, caused their lips to smack into each others. The two of them blushed deeply and Jin quickly let her go so she could scramble to her feet, where she muttered a series of apologies.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were lying on the ground dieing with laughter, Kurama was leaning against a tree to support himself as laughter racked his body and Hiei looked entirely amused. Touya, who was smirking, walked up to Jin, who was now sitting up in shock with red still ever present on his face, and smacked him in the back of the head, "Jin you old devil."

Jin rubbed his head even though the hit had be light, which Touya had meant it to be. "Sorry Kinomi," he murmured in embarrassment, "It be all my fault, not 'our own."

Being completely embarrassed even though they had both apologized Kinomi ran away from the group. Jin called after her but she didn't stop.

The wind master got to his feet and turned to the ice master. He grabbed his comrade's shirt and lifted him to his toes before shaking him, "Why'd you do 'at?"

"I wasn't the one who kissed her," Touya said as he was being shaken.

Jin stopped shaking him for a moment. "It's 'our fault!" he cried as he shook the ice master once again, "Now she 'ates me!"

Touya broke away from Jin and shook his head back and forth to get his senses back intact. His hair had come slightly loose from its hold, making him look through some of the light blue strands of hair that had fallen in his face. "Need you reenact Karie's actions towards me in the same day?"

"Sorry," Jin murmured apologetically. Karie was Touya's girlfriend and she had shaken his rather violently for not coming to see her in weeks.

"What are you moping around here for?" Touya asked him.

Jin looked at his questioningly, "Eh?"

"Go after her," Touya said motioning in the direction Kinomi had fled in.

"But she's mad at me," Jin whined and looked down.

Touya crossed his arms, "Is she mad or embarrassed?"

Jin looked up to find the ice master looking directly at him and knew what the right answer truly was. "Embarrassed," he murmured quietly.

"Then go after her and apologize," Touya said with a rare smile.

"But I did," Jin whined.

Touya rolled his eyes, "And how many times did she apologize to you?"

Jin understood what his comrade was getting at. She had apologized so many times he had lost count in his dazed state and he had apologized but once. He turned to run in the direction Kinomi had when he heard the ice master tell him, "Think of this as payback for last year."

At that moment he didn't quiet understand what Touya meant, but he figured he would eventually.

* * *

Muhahaha! I'm evil. Lol. Na, I'm just trying to make it realistic once more. You know the classic accidental kiss turns to mass embarrassment and so on down the line. 

Hehe, see, she didn't fall in the water. I ticked you.

For anyone who doesn't know the whole deal behind Karie, that has to do with _The Ultimate Christmas Gift_ (the Christmas fic I wrote in 2003). It's not that important for this fic, but it may clear up any questions you have concerning her… plus it might help you realize what Touya had said last (but it'll be explained in the next chapter anyway)

Only one more chapter to go! There's so many things to do in it too.

Please Review.

Thanks.


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Thank you for reviewing _Jins-Irish-Grin_ and _i-like-pudding13_ (for all 4 of them :) )

Lol. I read your mind for the snowball fight Kinomi…ok not really but hey, it works.

And woot, someone else likes the story too :)

**Note for all readers:** There is some Gaelic (the technical term for the Irish/Scottish language. It's like when people say the US language is American when technically it's English) in here. What I'm getting at is that I don't know Gaelic so I know I've messed up a bit and I don't want to offend any one so I'm apologizing ahead of time. I think I have all the words right (looked them up in a dictionary) but I think I have the order in which they're supposed to flow in wrong --;; Sorry again. And seriously I took a long time trying to get them right. I spent just about an hour on each sentence!

Please don't yell and say "Jin's not Irish!" I'm going off what the American voice actor sounds like. I do know what his Japanese voice is and I like it just as much as the English voice, but I tend to favor the later when I write stories.

And please do remember I'm trying to make this realistic. Sometimes emotions get the best of you in cases like these so don't kill me… you'll see what I'm talking about after you read it… all 15 pages of it (It's 16 pages with this blurb). Oo took soooo long to write, I had to finish it last night and this morning/afternoon! (I kind of forgot I didn't finish this chapter until I started proof reading it the other night --;; I'm so stupid)

Here we go!!

* * *

Chapter 5 

Kinomi sat under a tree with her legs up to her chest and her face hidden in them. She felt so confused and embarrassed about the event that had occurred not ten minutes ago. She knew it had been an accident, but it had felt so right and yet, to her, it seemed Jin was upset about it.

Despite all this however the snow continued its graceful fall, as if to try and reassure her that everything was going to be alright. She paid little heed to this however since her mind told her otherwise.

'I guess things really weren't me be,' Kinomi thought sadly, 'Even if I wanted them to.' A memory surfaced in her mind and she willed it to go away, but it would not.

vvvv

Kinomi walked into her grandmother's shrine and heard intense laughter coming from the room usually used for meetings with the Spirit Detectives. Being curious she walked to the room and opened the door, only to find a rather rowdy group of fighter.

Genkai was sitting right of the door shaking her head when she had walked in, "Hello Kinomi dear."

"Hey grandmother," Kinomi said with a baffled look on her face.

Yusuke looked up from where he was wrestling with Kuwabara, "Heyo Kino-mi." Her name had been separated as he hiccupped part way through.

Kinomi made a face, "You sound really weird Yusuke. Is something wrong?"

"Na," Yusuke said with a cheesy grin, "I'm ooooooooook."

A bottle rolled into Kinomi's foot and she picked it up to look at it. A shocked look crossed her face, "Grandmother! Your letting them drink?!"

Genkai chuckled, "They just got through with the Makai Tournament, don't you think they deserve some entertainment. Besides, it was Chu who brought all this out before I even knew what was going on."

Kinomi shook her head and put the bottle down carefully. She had never had alcohol before and it was rare for her to see anyone drinking, let alone drunk. The first person she had seen do both was Chu, an older looking demon with an Australia accent and blue hair in a mohawk, who had a bad habit of drinking.

As she looked about she saw Touya passed out in the corner of the room. Touya was one who cared little for drinking, which left her to think that someone, probably Jin or Chu, had made the poor ice master drink to the point where he was too drunk to remember his own hate of alcohol. He was not the only one passed out however, a teenage looking boy with long blue hair and bangs that defied gravity known as Shishiwakamaru was against the wall to left of the door sleeping.

What made Kinomi want to smack her forehead was seeing Rinku, a demon who looked around eight with wild brown hair, green eyes and four red stars under his left eye, sitting on the ground next to Kurama downing a full bottle of alcohol. The child never finished his drink as he swayed and passed out half way through.

Kinomi sighed as she walked over and picked the child up to place his off to the side so that he would not be injured in his sleep by the rowdy fighters. As soon as she put him down and stood up someone wrapped an arm around her waist and spun her around in a circle.

"'ey there Kinooomiii," Jin said as happily, but slurred her name slightly.

She turned around and found that Jin had only grabbed her with one arm because in his other hand was a, half empty, bottle of alcohol. She frowned up at him, "You're drunk."

"Just a weeeee bit," he said with a laugh, red ears twitching. "'ere," he put the bottle to her lips, "'ave a sip."

Kinomi took a step back, "No thank you."

"Aw common Kinomi," Jin pouted.

"I'm not allowed to," she said as she walked past him.

At that moment a demon looking to be in his twenties with spiked up blond hair and light blue eyes walked in with his face red from laughing so hard. When his laughter subsided slightly he started prancing about singing, "I feel pretty. Oh so pretty. I feel pretty and witty and gaaaaaaay!"

"Thanks for sharing!" Kinomi yelled at him, "I didn't need to know about your love life!"

Suzuka stopped prancing about and tried to register what had just been told to him in his drunken state. A moment later he yelled, while slurring some of the words, "I didn't meeeean it like thaaaaat! … I thiiiink…"

Everyone laughed at the perplexed Suzuka. "Give it up Suzuka," Genkai told him with a smirk, "You've lost this battle."

Suzuka crossed his arms, "Fiiiiiiiiiine all you feople." The group once again laughed at him, but this time it was for pronouncing 'people' wrong.

At that moment Botan, a teenage looking girl with long light blue hair in a pony tail and pink eyes, stormed in. Finding Suzuka she walked angrily towards him and slammed her oar over his head, knocking him out, as she yelled, "Jerk!"

All those still conscious, except for Botan, laughed. Botan walked up to Kinomi while glaring at all the drunken men, "Best be careful if you intend to stay here."

"What's the matter?" Kinomi asked.

"Let's just say I was grabbed in a place that isn't polite by a certain blond," Botan told her as she rubbed her sore behind.

"Oh," Kinomi said as she understood.

"Well I'm getting out of here before anything else happens," with that said Botan hopped on her oar, flew out the door and into the night.

When Kinomi heard the boys cheering she turned and saw Chu and Jin having a contest to see who could chug a full bottle of alcohol faster. She sighed and shook her head.

They both finished their bottles quickly, but Chu won by a land slide and could still stand on his own two feet. Jin on the other hand swayed and fell onto his back when he finished, laughing his drunken head off all the while.

Worried that the wind master might have hurt himself Kinomi ran up to him and knelt down, "Are you alright Jin?"

"Pancake sugar sauce!" Jin cried happily before hiccupping.

Kinomi shook her head as she laughed, "I think you'd better stop drinking Jin."

Jin sat up and grabbed a new bottle of alcohol. "Jin!" Kinomi cried, "Don't you think you've had enough to drink?!"

"Me like pretty daisy's," Jin replied with as he gave a huge smile.

Kinomi dropped her head at the wind master's completely random response. Jin was able to take a rather large gulp before she was able to yank it away, "No more."

Jin pouted and tried to grab the bottle, but it was out of his reach and he was too lazy to move anything but his arm to try and get it. His bottom lip shook slightly like that of a child's when they weren't given something they wanted.

Kinomi sighed, but did not waver in her thoughts, "No."

The wind master put his arm down as it was clear, even in his drunken state, that he would not get it. He pouted even more when Kinomi handed the bottle to Chu and told him to take it away.

"There," Kinomi said with a smile, "No more alcohol for you tonight."

"Meeeeeeanyyyyyy," Jin both whined and slurred, but not a second later did he knock Kinomi onto her back as he hugged her stomach. He rubbed his cheek on the material that covered her stomach region while saying, "I stiiiiiiiil yove ya."

Kinomi blushed deeply, 'Could he really mean he loves me?' she asked herself. 'No,' she thought a second later, 'He's just drunk.'

She realized Jin had stopped moving about and she looked down at him, though it was an odd view since she was laying down, she found he was asleep. 'Now I'm stuck,' Kinomi thought with a sigh as she put her head back down, 'Not that I mind.'

vvvv

Kinomi bit her lip at the memory. She had really had wanted to think that he had meant what he said that night, even if he had been drunk. 'Why is fate so cruel?' She tightened her grip on her legs.

She had gotten out from under the drunken wind master that night with the help of a slightly sober Kurama and a very sober Genkai. Everyone who had drunk that night woke the next morning with horrid hangovers and some had no recollection of anything that had happened.

No one spoke of the events between Jin and Kinomi to save them both, particularly the latter, from further embarrassment. Kinomi had really wanted to tell Jin what had happened, but had been afraid of the reaction he would give and thus she merely blushed every time she was around him for several weeks and tended not to say much.

She shivered slightly as she realized that the snow beneath her was starting to melt and soak into her pants. She suddenly wished she was at home taking a long hot bath… or in the arms of the one her heart longed for.

At that moment it felt as if a pair of strong arms had wrapped themselves around her and cradled body. 'Just your imagination,' she thought sadly. The voice that followed, however, contradicted the thought.

"'ou're shiverin'," the accented voice of the wind master said softly.

Kinomi said nothing in response, being that she was in shock, but she did sniff due to the cold. Jin took this as something else however and began to panic.

"Did I make ya cry? I'm sorry, I'm sorry," he kept say he was 'sorry' over and over as he practically begged for forgiveness.

Kinomi looked up slowly. "I'm not crying," she said softly, "And I'm the one who should be apologizing, not you."

Jin shook his head, "I was the one who ran into ya, not the other way 'round."

"I still could have moved out of the way had I been paying attention to what Touya was doing," she said softly as she hid her face once more.

"No ya couldn'," Jin told her, "I was bein' to close behin' him for ya to be able to do anythin'." He hugged her tightly.

Kinomi made a face that the wind master could not see, "Jin that hurts." Given the position she was in the pressure he was putting on her in his hug was hurting her knees as her legs were brought uncomfortably close.

Jin quickly let go and cried, "Sorry!"

To get rid of the pain now in her knees Kinomi stretched them out and wiggled them slightly. "Nothing's broken," she told him softly, "Don't worry."

"Good," Jin said in relief, "Sorry. I hadn' meant to hurt ya."

"I know," Kinomi told him softly, her gaze still on her legs.

"Kinomi," the wind master said ever so softly, hoping she would look at him. Seeing this did not get the reaction he desired, or any reaction at all for that matter, he sighed.

An awkward silence fell upon them as they sat their. Jin absentmindedly picked up the end of Kinomi's hair, which had been resting on the ground next to him, and began to play with it. As he twirled the ends in his fingers a small smile crept onto his face.

Kinomi looked over to him curiously and watched as he played with her hair carefully, the snow flurries playing in his wild hair. 'So much like a child, yet so much like an adult,' she thought to herself.

Jin looked up, causing their eyes to lock. He dropped her hair and put his hands up before saying a very soft, "Sorry."

A blush crept to her face and she nodded her head, "It's alright." She studied his face, which looked forlorn, and gave a small smile, "I didn't mind."

A gleam of hope rose into the wind masters, other wise, hurt eyes. The look on his face sent her memories of the time she had been badly hurt by a demon the year before. Jin had stayed at her side the entire time she was recuperating and he had repeatedly apologized for not being able to aid her as he felt he should have.

'He had been so hurt by the fact that I was so badly wounded,' Kinomi thought to herself, 'But he knew I would be alright, which allowed him to have a glimmer of his usual self in his eyes… sort of like now.'

"Kinomi?" Jin sounded worried since she had dazed off for a moment. He picked up her hand and made a face, "'ou're hands be chilled!"

"They're alright," Kinomi said softly, but didn't take her hand away from his. 'He so warm,' she thought, letting her blush grow larger.

"An' your cheeks be turning from the cold too!"

Kinomi smiled to herself, 'How naive he is.'

With his free hand Jin gingerly stroked her cheek. As he watched his finger barely touch her skin his eyes seemed to fade out as if he was thinking deeply about something.

Kinomi was about to ask if he was alright when she realized how unearthly cold her backside had gotten and jolted to her feet, startling the pensive wind master. "Cold!" She half cried as he rubbed her numb behind.

The wind master could not hold back a laugh as he watched the pink haired girl before him. Her pants where soaked from the snow, which caused her undergarment to show lightly through them. This inevitably made Jin blush and he found he could only tear his gave from her by lying down in the snow.

Taking notice of the wind masters change in position she walked to his side, "Are you alright Jin?"

"Ar ndóigh," the wind master said with a nod. When Kinomi gave him an odd looked he quickly said, "Aye."

"What were those words?" Kinomi found she couldn't hold herself back from asking.

"A wee bit o' Gaelic," he told her.

Kinomi smiled brightly, "Gaelic, that's your native tongue, no?"

"Ar ndóigh," Jin said with a nod and a smile.

"That means 'yes' right?"

The wind master shook his head, "No."

Now Kinomi was confused again, "Than what does it mean?"

"O' course," Jin replied as he put his arms up for her.

As Kinomi put her hands in his he gently pulled on them so than she would realized what he wanted her to do. "I'm wet," she protested.

Jin laughed, "So be I."

With a light laugh Kinomi nodded; he was laying in the snow after all. She carefully put one leg on the other side of him before sitting down on his stomach, "I hope I'm not hurting you," she said softly.

"You be as light as an angels feather," Jin told with a smile.

She blushed and looked down, but found herself blushing harder and having to bring her head up quickly up realizing that it wasn't the ground that was beneath her, but Jin's well defined chest.

A soft bit of laughter and the light vibration beneath her brought her eyes to meet his. She found that he seemed to be back to his old self; perky and full of smiles and laughs. He brought his knees up, feet on the ground, and held out his hands to her. Not sure of what he wanted she placed her hands in his only to feel a very gentle force backwards.

With her back now against the upper parts of his legs she understood why he had brought them up; to offer a backrest of sorts. Their hands remained entangled in one another's, but neither seemed to mind.

Removing her grasp on one of Jin's hands she carefully laid her palm flat against his. A faint smile crossed her face as she looked at them, "My hands are so small compared to yours." Her hands were indeed smaller than the wind master's, by a full digit in fact.

Jin gave a small smile, "Ya are small next ta me."

Kinomi made a face offended sound, "How dare you make fun of my height."

"Ya know I didn' mean it like 'at," Jin said in a slight panic.

With a smiled Kinomi said, "I was teasing."

Jin pouted, "Well 'at's na nice." She gave a soft giggle before shivering due to the cold. "Yer cold," Jin said with a hint of worry and a frown.

"I've been out in this weather for a few hours," she told him, "I suppose it's no surprise."

"Well, 'ere be no needin' to catch a cold," he clasped both of her hands carefully and gently pulled her down towards him.

Kinomi blushed deeply, "Jin, wait…"

"What be the matter?" Jin asked almost too softly for his natural character.

She shifted awkwardly not sure how to formulate the proper words. Their current position was rather unnerving for the young female who had never had the courage to tell anyone, never mind the Jin, about her feelings for the very demon beneath her.

Jin smiled reassuringly and gently pulled her down atop of himself and wrapped his arms around her smaller frame before she could muster anything else. As he hugged her closely she could not help but smile and nestle her head under his chin.

"Neach i grá le tú tà ionadh tharbheith," Jin murmured as he tightened his grip around her slightly.

"Is that Gaelic?" she asked in curiosity.

"Aye," Jin said quietly.

Kinomi picked her head up and looked the wind master in the eyes, "What does it mean?"

She watched as a red tinge quickly crawled upon the wind master's cheeks and spread to the very tips of his long ears. "Don' be worrin' over it," his voice was soft and almost incomprehensible to her ears.

"Who said I was worrying?" Kinomi asked softly with a smile

With a small chuckle Jin replied with, "Do miongháire tà álainn."

Kinomi pouted, "I wish you would tell me what you're saying."

"Na sure ya wan' ta know," Jin told her, a hint of sadness in his voice.

"Why not?" she asked in response, a curious look on her face.

The redness on Jin's face that had been fading came back and it was almost comical as to how red his ears were as they twitched with an emotion Kinomi had never seen from the wind master before. In fact she didn't even know what to make of it.

It was a strange thing to think that the wind master's ears could convey emotions, but they did none the less. The little twitches of his ears showed if he was angry, delighted or upset, but now they twitched in a fashion that showed the later two emotions and Kinomi was sure it meant something deeper than simple happiness or sadness.

"Ya might ge' mad," Jin said softly, sadness a bit more present then before.

"Mad?" Kinomi asked, "Why would I get mad?"

"'cause I be bein' an idiot."

Kinomi was taken by surprise by that response and it took her a moment to formulate the words she needed. "Jin I'd never think you were an idiot- in that fashion anyway. If you meant it in a playful way because you're almost always jovial and lighthearted I'd have agree, but I know you don't mean it like that."

Jin smiled up at her, "'ou're always so nice to me."

"Why wouldn't I be?" She asked with a smile in return, "You're special to me." Her eyes widened and face turned crimsoned as she realized what words had just passed through her lips. She turned her head to the side hoping Jin wouldn't take much notice to how much color had flown to her cheeks so quickly.

Jin was clearly in a state of shock after hearing her last statement. He knew she could have meant it in an assortment of ways, but only one way seemed so much stronger than the others in his mind.

Her face had a deep shade of red clinging to it and he knew his was probably no better from the heat he felt despite the cold weather. Now that he thought of it she often blushed when around him.

"Kinomi..." Jin trailed off as he removed one hand from her waist and used it to gingerly take her chin in his fingers and turn her head towards him. Their faces were not far apart and he could feel the soft warm air she exhaled.

She seemed somewhat uneasy in his arms, a feeling that confused the wind master. He felt her sigh and shift in the direction on his weakened grasp on her waist.

Once off of him she sat on her legs and looked down at her hands, which were in her lap. She did however hear and see, through her peripheral vision, him sit up. Had she looked up she would have seen Jin's concerned face in front and slightly to the side of her.

A gentle hand came up under her chin and lifted it so that their eyes could lock. "What be toublin' ya?" Jin asked softly, concern flowing in his voice.

"Nothing for you to worry over," she replied with a weak smile.

"'ell maybe I wanna be worrin' 'bout it."

This comment caused Kinomi's face to fall as she took the words to an unintended meaning. She took Jin's hand away from her chin and made to get up, but a pair of strong arms wrapped around her, preventing such a motion.

"Mé grá tú Kinomi," Jin whispered into her ear, a slight bit of panic in his voice, "Mé grá tú, mé dáirire grá tú."

Through the tone of his voice Kinomi could tell that he feared she would run off again. She wished she could understand what his words meant as she believed they held something important, but it was impossible to say without knowing a translation.

Her thought on the Gaelic meaning were dashed as something kept hitting the side of her head. She giggled as she realized Jin's ears had to be twitching and since they were so close one of them was actually hitting her, "Jin, your ear's beating me up."

Jin pulled away from her quickly and sure enough his ears were twitching. In fact his ears were bright red, as were his cheeks, which further made Kinomi think his words held something of importance.

"Sorry," Jin said as he put his hands to his ears to calm them.

Kinomi smiled brightly and giggled, "I want a rematch."

The point in saying what she had was to get the tense wind master to lighten up and it did just that as he let his ears go and laughed merrily. "I think 'ey 'ould win."

"We'll see about that," Kinomi said with a mock insult, which ended up being destroyed by her laughter.

She moved closer to the wind master and put a hand behind one of his twitching ears. When it hit her fingers her hand recoiled, but not due to pain. It was an odd sensation to have one's ear hit your hand, no matter how light the contact was.

Jin laughed, "Tol' ya."

Kinomi let out a playful growl and stuck her hand out to his ear once more. This time she was able to gently grab it, just barely, by the tip.

A soft groan came to her ears and he saw Jin clasp his hand over his mouth quickly. She let go of his ear and looked at him curiously. If possible his face and ears seemed to become even redder than before. "What was that?" she asked him.

Jin slowly took his hand away from his mouth and looked at her in embarrassment, ears twitching madly, "The tips o' my ears be very sensitive to anyone's touch 'sides my own."

"Sorry I didn't know!" Kinomi cried

Jin shook his head and gave a small laugh, "It be alrigh'. Ya didn' 'urt 'em."

Kinomi blushed heavily and diverted her gaze as she realized just what kind of reaction he had to the touch. When she looked back to him several moment later, red still ever present on both their faces, she saw that the twitching of his ears had nearly stopped. Wanting to get away from the thought of his ears she asked, "What does 'mé grá tú' mean?"

He took a moment to think over her request before say, "It means I…."

"'I' what?" she asked when it was clear he wasn't going to continue. Jin looked down and said something too low for her to catch. "What?"

Jin kept his gaze down and shook his head, "Don' be worrin' 'bout it."

Kinomi leaned forward, "Maybe I want to worry over it."

The wind master realized that his own statement from before was being used against him, but he took it much better than Kinomi had. He looked up at her, now closer, face with a smile.

As he gazed over her facial features a strong urge came over him and he could not rid himself of it. Before he really knew what was happening he felt his lips against hers. When sense finally washed over him he quickly pulled back. Fright was ever clear in his blue eyes and he could not seem to put the words together for an apology of any kind.

Kinomi looked at him with unseeing wide eyes as she brought her fingers up to her lips. There was a tingling sensation throughout them and she was sure her heart would shoot out of her very chest at any moment. 'He- kissed me,' she thought in sheer surprise as her vision finally began to focus.

What she saw before her was a frightened wind master expecting to be slapped, or worse. Her eyes became soft, "Mé grá tú means 'I love you' doesn't it…"

Jin's features relaxed slightly as he nodded his head slowly.

"Do you- do you really mean that?" she asked shakily. She wasn't sure what to make of it and was afraid this was all some crazy dream.

"I do," Jin said, a bit hurt by the question.

Tears began to fill Kinomi's eyes and she wrapped her arms around Jin's neck. Despite the fact that Jin had just admitted his feelings to her she could not speak her own feelings. Her tears streamed down her cheeks and she tightened her grip on the wind master, quiet sobs escaping her. She was thrilled that he felt the same for her, but wished she could say her feeling for him, both of these facts sent her into the state she was in now.

Jin hugged her tightly. "I shouldn' 'ave told ya," Jin whispered, sorrow filling his voice. He had never seen Kinomi cry before and it hurt like the seven hells to see it now.

"I wish I could tell you," she said so quietly that, despite the fact that she was close to his ears, Jin almost didn't hear it.

"Tell me 'at?" Jin asked as he carefully rubbed her back in an attempt to calm her as he fought to keep his voice level.

"I want to tell you," Kinomi cried, "I really do." Her mind screamed at her to spit it out. 'I love you Jin, I always have,' the words were so clear cut in her mind, but for some reason they would not pass through her lips.

Jin somehow got Kinomi to loosen her grip enough for her to come out and look him in the eyes, "I never meant it to 'urt ya. I never meant anythin' to 'urt ya." He wiped away the tears that glided down her face with his thumbs, "So please stop cryin'."

"You never did," Kinomi told him.

Jin gave a weak smile and brushed stay hairs form her face, "'et's be getting back to Genkai's. Ya need rest." He got up and helped Kinomi to her feet. "Come on," he said softly as he took the lead, motioning for her to follow.

Christmas was a day meant to give joy, not pain. Kinomi's heart seemed to crack and threatened to shatter into millions of pieces. The words that refused to surface would bring Jin great joy, she knew that very well now, but no matter how much she pleaded with herself she could not muster the words.

Jin turned around after several paces to look at her curiously since he hadn't heard her move.

Kinomi looked strait into his eyes and saw his pain, but his affection for her seemed even stronger despite the events of moments ago. She was shocked, not because the later emotion was so strong, but because she realized the emotion had always been there.

It had been there after he had taken her on her first flight. It had been there when she had had given him her hat to keep his ears warm. It had been there when she had been badly hurt a year ago and even when he had been sick, but she had mistaken it for relief or gratitude. She had always thought the look in his eyes meant something else.

In fact it seemed like whenever he saw her his eyes would light up, even if he was completely exhausted from battle, training or a long journey.

He really did care for her and she could not understand why she had not seen it before. He had never stopped caring, even when he was agitated about something. In fact, now that she thought of it, he had never gotten angry with her. It seemed like no matter what happened in his life he would never let the emotion leave him, even now when she had unintentionally put him out.

"Ya alrigh' Kinomi?" Jin asked in concern.

He has always cared…

"Kinomi?" Jin took a step forward.

…about _her_.

He took another step closer.

_Always_.

Without another thought in mind she ran and jumped onto him, wrapping her arm around his neck. The wind master had to take a step back to prevent being knocked over and that one step was full of surprise and it showed on his face; his arms were already around her in what would have been a protective embrace if they had fallen.

From the moment she had her arms around him the words that had been locked away not a moment ago flew from her mouth, "I love you Jin! I really love you!" Tears streamed down her face as kept saying it, glad that she finally could.

Jin was shocked by the sudden outburst, but his heart fluttered with glee. The ringing in his ears due to her cries didn't bother him in the least. In fact he would have allowed them to bleed if it had meant he could hear them, or any of her words for that matter.

He smiled and held her as close as he could without causing harm. Kinomi's cries soon turned into laughter and he knew part of it was most likely due to his madly twitching ears once again 'beating' her up. He loosened his grip as he felt her want to come out from the hug.

Tear streaks glowed on her face in a stinging manner and any stray tears were quickly wiped away by her hands. She smiled up at him and put her hands out to gently take his ears in them, keeping away from the extra sensitive tips.

Color crawled onto the wind masters cheeks and he smiled down at her affectionately. He took one of her hands away from his ears and brought it out to kiss her knuckles with his soft warm lips.

A soft blush appeared on Kinomi's face at the touch on his lips on her skin. She reluctantly pulled her hand away from his and put both her arms around his neck loosely. Jin too moved his arm back down to her waist, their gaze never leaving one another's.

Touya's words suddenly rang in Jin's mind, _Think of this as payback for last year._ It was as clear as day now. Last year he had gotten Touya and his long lost love, Karie, together and now he was repaying the favor. The only difference was he and Kinomi had never admitted their feeling for one another, but it wasn't surprising that Touya had figured out a way to fix that.

''anks Touya,' Jin thought to himself as he pulled Kinomi closer.

Kinomi rubbed her thumb against the back of Jin's neck with a smile. The wind master smiled in return before lowering his head. Their lips locked together in a sweet passionate kiss that dashed the emotionally draining events of the day from their minds.

The wind, which was full of flurries, wrapped around the kissing couple as if it approved of the relationship between them. It blew Jin's wild hair about and shifted Kinomi's loose bangs and ends of her hair in a gentle manner.

To anyone that understood the winds they would have realized that it was giving the couple a blessing; something that had not been given since the first Shinobi master had lived thousands of years ago.

vvvv

"Ew! Their kissing again!"

"Icky!"

Jin chuckled against Kinomi's lips before breaking away. The two of them looked down to see a five year old boy and a three year old girl looking up at them.

The boy had messy red hair, green eyes and small pointed ears. His tongue was sticking out of his mouth in childish disgust at seeing the couple kissing. He wore a white t-shirt, sky blue pants and black slipper like shoes.

The girl had light pink hair in loose pigtails, blue eyes and long pointed ears. She held a soft brown teddy bear to her chest, chin resting on it head. She wore a simple blue dress that stopped just below her knees and white shoes.

Jin picked up the young boy and Kinomi stooped down and picked up the toddler before giving her a kiss on the forehead. The boy laughed from Jin's arms, "You got mommy germs." With a smile Jin kissed the boys hair causing him to say, "I got daddy germs," as he covered the area where he'd been kissed.

"Two terrors ya are," Jin said with a smile as he looked from one child to the other.

Kinomi smiled, "And soon to be three."

Jin's ears twitched happily and with his free hand rubbed Kinomi's rounded belly, "Aye."

It had been ten years since their confessions and now they lived happily with little to no worries and immense amounts of joy. Neither of they could ask for anything greater.

Jin took his hand back and chuckled as the little life within his love kicked. With a smiled Kinomi ran her hand over her belly, "The child wants out."

"You don't mean…."

Kinomi looked up and nodded, "It's time."

* * *

Fin.

* * *

Aw it was so cute… after you got past the painful parts. I didn't want to make Kinomi cry that first time, but it seemed to fit in with the realism since I would believe one would get agitated to tears in a position like that. It works out, no? 

And they have cute kinds too!!! Lol. I actually got the idea for it just as I finished writing about the blessing from the wind. I thought it was too cute to not put in The boy's personality is like that of one of my cousin's when he was younger. If you kissed his cheek or hair he would literally try to smack it away because he thought it was gross. Lol.

Oh yes, translations (remember these are rough because I don't know Gaelic):

Neach i grá le tú tà ionadh tharbheith- _being in love with you is a wonder beyond existence_

Do miongháire tà álainn- _your smile is beautiful_

Cute phrases, no?

I hope everyone liked it!

Please Review.

Thank you.


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